UCL preview: Liverpool vrs Napoli Battle For Survival

<![CDATA[[caption id="attachment_136367" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] epa07067453 Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly (R) in action against Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold during the UEFA Champions League match between SSC Napoli and Liverpool FC at San Paolo stadium in Naples, Italy, 03 October 2018. EPA/CIRO FUSCO[/caption] The group stage of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League will wrap up with 16 matchday six fixtures across the continent on 11-12 December, with only four places in the knockout stage still up for grabs all live and in HD only on SuperSport on DStv & GOtv.   The focus on Tuesday will mainly be on Group C, with one of heavyweights Napoli, Paris Saint-Germain and last season’s runners-up Liverpool set to make an early exit from the competition. The key match will be played at Anfield, where Liverpool must defeat Napoli to have a chance of progressing, while the Italians need only avoid defeat to ensure they finish in the top two of the pool.   With the other group match seeing PSG play away to Red Star Belgrade (who can still finish third and qualify for the UEFA Europa League), fans of all four teams will be on the edge of their seats throughout the 90 minutes once the games kick-off simultaneously at 22h00 CAT.   Tuesday night will also be decisive in Group B, where Tottenham Hotspur and Internazionale are both hoping to join pool winners Barcelona in the last 16. Spurs come into the game placed second on the log with seven points from five matches.   However, Mauricio Pochettino’s team are clinging onto the final qualifying berth by their fingernails, as the Italian giants also have seven points – only Tottenham’s away goal in the teams’ two group stage meetings sees then ranked ahead of the Nerazzurri.   Yet the problem for Spurs is they must play away to Barcelona and match Inter’s result to stay in second place the Serie A side have a far more amenable game ahead of them as they host Eredivisie champions PSV Eindhoven (who will finish bottom of the log regardless of the result at the San Siro).   Thus, Spurs must not only claim a first-ever win over Barcelona, but they must do so at the Camp Nou in Catalonia anything less and it’s highly likely they will end up in the Europa League rather than contesting knockout football with the best teams on the continent.   The final match which has a place in the last 16 of the Champions League up for grabs comes from Kiev in the Ukraine on Wednesday night, as Shakhtar Donetsk host Olympique Lyon in a Group F clash which will decide who joins Manchester City in the top two.   The French club, which has earned rave reviews especially for their superb showings against the Citizens, are the favourites to progress as they need only avoid defeat and Shakhtar have yet to win at home in this European campaign but it still promises to be a tough outing for manager Bruno Genesio and his exciting young team.   Key match stats   Shakhtar Donetsk v Olympique Lyon – Head-to-head, European competitions Matches played 1 Shakhtar wins 0 Lyon wins 0 Draws 1   Liverpool v Napoli – Head-to-head, European competitions Matches played 3 Liverpool wins 1 Napoli wins 1 Draws 1   Barcelona v Tottenham Hotspur – Head-to-head, European competitions Matches played 3 Barca wins 2 Spurs wins 0 Draws 1   UEFA Champions League fixtures, 11-12 December All times GMT   Tuesday 11 December 5:55pm Galatasaray v Porto – LIVEon SS8, Max1 & SelGO5 5:55pm Schalke v Lokomotiv Moscow – LIVEon SS6 8:00pm Club Brugge v Atletico Madrid – LIVEon SS12 8:00pm Monaco v Borussia Dortmund – LIVEon SS11 8:00pm Barcelona v Tottenham Hotspur – LIVEon SS6 & Max1 8:00pm Internazionale v PSV – LIVEon SS2 8:00pm Liverpool v Napoli – LIVEon SS5 8:00pm Red Star v Paris Saint-Germain – LIVEon SS8, Max1 & SelGO4   Wednesday 12 December 5:55pm Real Madrid v CSKA Moscow – LIVEon SS5 & Max1 5:55pm Viktoria Plzen v Roma – LIVEon SS6 8:00pm Ajax v Bayern Munich – LIVEon SS2 8:00pm: Benfica v AEK Athens – LIVEon SS11 & Max1 8:00pm Shakhtar Donetsk v Olympique Lyon – LIVEon SS12 8:00pm Manchester City v Hoffenheim – LIVEon SS6 8:00pm Young Boys v Juventus – LIVEon SS8, Max2 & SelGO4 8:00pm Valencia v Manchester United – LIVEon SS5  ]]>